[New Show] Sleepy Hollow

Normally, I would wait until after a couple of episodes before writing something like this but I'm not sure if I'm liking this show or hating it or just mildly amused by it. The story of Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman and Icabod Crane has always been a favorite of mine. When I began hearing mutterings of them making it into a TV show I was for it--surprisingly--when I heard it was being developed for FOX, my heart broke. You see, FOX has this habit of discontinuing television shows that has promise but are either too cheap or too impatient to back. Want proof? One word FIREFLY. Enough said. Anyways, I ramble.

Now back to Sleep Hollow.

The story is modern take on the classic we know. Icabod Crane (Tom Mison - Secret Diary of a Call Girl) dies during a mission for George Washington (yes, THAT George Washington). He gets into a fight with this beast looking red coat and though he wound up killing said beast, he died from a blow from the beast. He awakens in 2013 in the Town of Sleepy Hollow and so does the Headless man he "killed" in about 1703.

This is something Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie - Woman Thou Art Lose: On the 7th Day) doesn't need. But when her and her partner gets a call out and her partner ends up being beheaded by a headless man with an axe - there is no way she is going to join the FBI in Quantico now.

So this is where the story is.

This section could contain spoiler so stop reading here if you haven't watch the first episode yet and intend to.

Apparently her and Icabod are put together to now solve the strange happenings of the small town and try to keep the world from ending by the arrival of the Four horse men of the apocalypse. There are a few noted names in the first episode that did not make it to the end of the episode and this includes John Cho (yes, that John Cho from Star Trek as Mr Sulu. But most notably from the Harold and Kumar franchise.) It shocked me to see that John plays a bad guy who ended up with a broken neck in the end by some strange, axe-headed thingie before Icabod and Abbie could question him. He was actually working WITH the headless horseman, which kind of made no sense to me because the horseman was awakened with Icabod so when did he get time to turn a human? Or was the character human or something else?

Now, here's where I get a little iffy on this new series:

Issue #1 - While as an aspiring actress myself, and I support giving new actors a start, it is strange to expect a show like this to survive with relative unknowns. Nicole Beharie who plays Abbie was only in one show I've heard of and Tom Mison was in a host of things but nothing really notable except the Call Girl TV show that didn't really survive that long. They tossed in John Cho but he was dead by the end of the episode and then there's Orlando Jones who plays their Captain. He was in Drumline, Madtv, The Boondocks. But I don't his star power is strong enough to save this show from FOX's axe. I am worried it will not make it so I wouldn't get too attached.

Issue # 2: This show is on FOX.

I will watch the second episode and see what I think. I wouldn't write it off either. It has promise but lets face it, as the guys from Terra Nova, Firefly and the numerous other shows that didn't make the FOX grind can tell you, no show is safe.  But a little tip, do not watch this show online. They have to count your viewership. If you watch it online it does not count (maybe on the FOX website it might count).

Anyways, check it out. It has mystery, creeps and Icabod is not bad to look at.

hugs,
Kato

Bones - Season Premier - *YAWN*

Finally! After almost a week of avoiding all my friends who watch Bones I finally caught it on a rerun. And the series premier had me shaking my head thinking stinking Pelant is starting to piss me off! And WTF is up with him and clocks?

So here's the run down of where they ended off last season. So Bones proposed, Booth said yes then Pelant calls and their world went downhill...AGAIN...this means he forces Booth to change his mind about marrying Bones who can't tell he why or Pelant will find 5 random people and whack 'em. So now Bones doesn't know why Booth suddenly changed his mind about marrying her and she is upset, questioning everything, their whole partnership--its not going to be pretty when Booth gets his hands on Pelant.

The season premier was filled with temper, anger, hatred and all around misery. Now here's where I say if you haven't watched the season premier yet and you ARE going to watch it, on your PVR or on Netflix later stop reading now. I'm serious, skip to the next review...one moe chance.... 

Still here? Cool beans. 

So Booth and Bones around each other and not talking is painful. It's almost heart wrenching when they go to solve the case of the guy who wound up dead in a giant industrial fan and have to work together. Cam tries talking to Booth, who swiftly told her to mind her own business, Angela tried working with Booth but only wound up screaming at him because he's breaking Bones' heart and should be ashamed of himself. I almost stopped watching it was so painful.

Booth and Bones try to have lunch together but you could have cut the tension with a knife.

Still, Booth tries to get Bones to go with him to the victim's place for a second visit but she tells him to take Sweets who wound up getting kicked on his behind by a random stranger in a grey suit who turned out to be a CIA agent and ex military from Booth's past and they seemed to be friendly! And you will NEVER guess who that agent was!

Now if you don't know who this guy is, it's not your fault. He hasn't been doing much since his days as a heart-throb in movies like She's All That, I know What You Did Last Summer, I STILL Know What You Did Last Summer and a bunch of other teenie, early twenties kind of deal movies. But this is Freddie Prinze Jr. aka Mr. Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer - the series. The truth is when I saw him in this episode of Bones all I could think was OMG! Freddie got HOT! lol. 

But back to Bones, for those of us who still heart this man hard, the victim's apartment was scrubbed - CIA style - and Freddie's character is the one who they sent to do it. I know what you're asking. You're screatching her head at this very moment wondering what the CIA had to do with Booth and why this victim? Well my very amazing friends, they were involved because somehow the victim works or worked for the CIA and since they couldn't confirm nor deny we've watched enough movies and TVshows to know that is always code for he did work for them lol. Anyways, some say this episode was just to set up Freddie as a regular character in season 9 of the hit show.  It was a weird way to introduce a new character to show him twice in the episode for a grand total of about five minutes all together then expect people to want to see him for the rest of the season. I'm not sure what to make of that. Maybe they have a plan or maybe they just didn't know what else to do and decided to just, throw it out there and see what bounces back. 

In the end, Freddie aka Mr. CIA owes Booth a favour (Which I couldn't understand how that happened that the big bad wolf of a CIA now owes Booth a favour) but I guess we'll find out what that means later.

But, Bones, pissed off that Booth didn't want to marry her, tries to make sense of it all and tries using science to say Booth has fallen out of love with her and was going to strip clubs. Everyone around her thought it was laughable until she handed them proof--a match book from a place called Paradise Lost. Turns out its a bar owns by one of Booth friends, a ex priest turned bartender who Booth still confesses to even though he is no longer a priest (Mather Zickel) and think Booth holding the secret that Pelant is blackmailing him is a bad idea. 

Eventually, a woman's intuition won out and Bones goes to Paradise Lost and had a good talk with the ex-priest. Now, Bones and Booth have an understanding. Bones agrees to wait until Booth was ready. 

My overall take of this - I was not a major fan of this episode. Yes, parts of it was well written but I think there was a better way to get Freddie's character in there without the way he was introduced. I mean really? Who are they fooling? Booth chases a CIA agent, corners him in an empty school bus, both pointing guns at each other, had a few words, both put their guns away and CIA agent runs away and Booth just lets him! I mean in some ways I understand since they knew each other and Booth has had dealings with the CIA before he probably knew questioning this agent was a job infutility and he just didn't have the patience for it. But either way, it could have been done better.

The Pelant story is getting severely old. I've spoken to a few people who felt the same way I felt at the end of the episode. If they're going to run this Pelant story for the whole whole season I won't be watching it. I mean how long can they go on with it?  The writers of this arc is asking too much. Think about it...they expect us  to believe that Booth is a kick ass sniper--what are the chances he's going to shoot at serial killer who framed his woman for murder, tortured his friends and committed numerous murders and only catch a part of him? Let's be real here. If you're going to write a character to be such a bad ass, he's not going to miss, moving target or not. Let's be real here - Snipers don't shoot to maim because they are the last resort. Snipers shoot to kill and the good ones, like Booth don't miss from such a short distance.

Still....Okay, I'll bite. 

But there is only so much suspension of my belief I'm willing to divulge here. I am quickly running out of patience with the writers in this show. They know what the fans have come to expect and dragging this story on for more than another episode or two is just asking for trouble. So with that said, I say this, the fans these days are like kids with ADHD - if they can't get satisfaction from your show, they're going to get it from somewhere else. And Sleep Hollow is shaping up to be one helluva show. So guys move on, Pelant is an ass, we get it...that gravy train is swiftly pulling into the station, move on already!

Hugs,

Kato

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a movie about a group of British seniors who, for one reason or another, get to retirement age and realises, oh snap! We don't have enough money for retiremen. They all see this ad about a hotel in India called The Best Marigold Hotel and decides, this paradise is where their retirement funds can be stretched to give them a wondeful rest of their lives.

The moment I first saw the commercial or this movie, I wanted to watch it. I'm not sure why. I've never been a huge fan of Judi Dench--I mean I never disliked her, it's just that I didn't seek out he movies to watch. I know her from being James Bond's handle in the new movies, and again as a Dame but she wasn't an actress I was goo-goo over. And I didn't know Bill Nighy (Viktor from Undeworld: Rise of the Lycans and Slartibartfast from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and I definitely didn't know Dev Patel (Jamal of Slum Dog Millionaire and Prince Zuko in The Last Airbender) was in it. But from watching the previews I was absolutely enamoured with this premise. Maybe I'm biased because I love travel and the idea of picking up everything and just going somewhere to start over after your curent life just keeps kicking you in the grapes.  But for whatever reason I never got around to seeing the movie. After getting Netflix, it kept popping up in the recommended movies because I watched a part of another movie Late Bloomers that I just couldn't get through. 

So finally, I gave in, clicked on it and watched.

First let me say this. There were parts of this movie that was slow--and I'm not talking about a beautiful stillness I found in Ciao -- this was slow as in they could have edited out that bit. But those moments were few so its still a worthy, funny and heart-wrenching movie to watch.

The characters in this movie are many so I'm just going to push the main ones for length state and to avoid giving away too many spoilers.

Evelyn Geenslade (Judi Dench) just lost her husband and gets the shock of her life when she finds out he's heavily in debt. Not only that, in order to settle it, she has to sell the house she raised he family in to settle said debts, her son is taking control of everything and talking about her to the real estate agent as if she's not even in the room. She'd be damned if she goes to live with him like he planned and she'd be doubly damned if she allowed him to take care of things like his father did.

Then there's Graham Dashwood (The Lone Ranger, Batman Begins) a court judge who is tired of the retirement parties and the pretentious speeches they do every--single-time someone is retiring. He's in the middle of one when all the suffocating bullshit of these speeches and fake smiles applauds got too much and he merely lifted his hands and walks away.  As a young man he lived in India and has his secrets buried deep inside about why he's going back.

Douglas Ainslie (Bill Nighy) is married to Jean (Penelope Wilton - Isobel Crawley in Downton Abbey, Harriet Jones Doctor Who) and lord have mercy I felt sorry for poor Douglas. His wife Jean nagged, and complained, and bitched and OMG! This is a woman who tells him that "if she wants your opinion, I'll give it to you" when all he did was bend over backwards to please her. They are in India because well, Douglas' daughter wanted start up funds for a .com company so he leant her his and Jean's life savings expecting a good return on the money. The company didn't lift off the ground. So he's in his own version of hell on earth.

Muriel Donnelly (played by Maggie Smith, Mother Supeior from Sister's Act and Violet Crawley Downton Abbey) is a racist who after years of taking care of a household in England as her job, they hired a newer model and thanked he for her services. Now she needs a new hip and the doctor told her the best place she can get this done, cheaply and quicker was India. Oh the humanity!

Then there's the horny old man who just wanted to feel young again and the grand mother, tired of being treated like a babysitter to her grandchildren, who just want to be loved again.

The story picks up greatly in India at this hotel that isn't this grand, amazing, palace like the ad said. The phones don't work, most of the rooms have no doors and there are birds sleeping in some of them. They meet Sonny (Dev Patel) who is a dreamer - who sees the bright side of life always even though nothing ever went as he planned and he never succeeded at anything but he needs the Marigold Hotel to succeed because if it it doesn't he cant marry Sunaina (Tena Desae), the absolute love of his life because his mother will never allow it and he'll disgrace both Sunaina and his mother by being a failure.

Though The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel didn't get too deeply into Indian culture, they did touch on the Untouchables and what happens after you bring dishonour to your family. It's a heartbreaking concept that still happens there. And I was glad they at least touched on that part of the many other aspects of Indian culture.

This is a movie with a little of everything-love, sadness, arrange marriages, gay love and death. It is a spectacular vision of Indian sunsets and tuk-tuks and the speed and craziness of the rush of the country. It is a movie to move you, make you laugh then sob like a fool when the world has finally betrayed Sonny and he just let it all hang out there. It is a tale of second chances and finding love and adoration in the strangest places.

Though some parts, as I said before, could have been tightened up a little or deleted, this movie is still a classic and I know you check it out. You will not be disappointed.

Hugs,
Kato

EAT PRAY LOVE

After her divorce, Elizabeth (played by Julia Roberts) realizes that her life is in a rut and decides she is going to drop everything and travel to Italy, India and Bali to find balance and hopefully grow into the person she's supposed to m.

The honest truth is this movie for me had a whole lot of things going against it in my books. When I first heard it was being made from a book I might want to read some day, I frowned. Strike one! Movie makers these days have a tendency of screwing up books they turn into films.  Then Javier Bardem is in it - Strike two! I don't know why but to me Javier Bardem is just one of those actors I just can't seem to get into when I think of him. I have to take him on a role by role scenario.  And it didn't help that when I saw that the only thing I could think was omigawd! Another Vicky Cristina Barcelona--barf! But I have Netflix (one of the greatest inventions EVER!) and I can watch what I want when I want and I'm not sure what got into me but I was taking a break from writing a novel I've been working on (one of my characters is in a coma - gasp! The Horror!) and thought I'd give this movie a look see.

Brilliant, brilliant movie!

Ok, first off she traveled to all these exotic places that I've always wanted to visit. I have a friend who lives in Paris so Italy is on my list--it is TOPS on my list of places to go. Then India--even though things aren't quite copacetic there at the moment its still on my list. Bali isn't but after this movie, it's on there. That was how they reeled me into this movie. But I also love stories about how women get back on their feet after being kicked in the throat (aka divorced). I mean, I cannot IMAGINE rolling over one night and stare into my husband's face and think holy crap! Who are you? 

The characters she comes across in her travels are rich and fragrant - I know it sounds weird to describe fictional characters I cannot touch or for this matter fragrant but its the only word I could think of. Perhaps its because I'm a writer but they gave off an air of authenticity and usefulness. None of them were in the story just to be there--they all contributed in their own way to Liz's life and her search.

Eat Pray Love is breath-taking in the scenery as well as story and it will hold you from the first scene to the very last. It will break your heart then slowly mend it and you will not even know its happening.

This is what I look for in these kind of movies--something that will help me grow and seek out my own personal word. 

Feeling like your life is stuck? I know it's just a movie but watch it--you'll see what I mean.

Oh and PS? If you do watch it after feeling stuck, come right back here and tell me how you feel.

Hugs,
Kato

Ciao

**Please note this movie is LGBT**

When Mark (played by Chuck Blaum) dies, his best friend Jeff (played by Adam Neal Smith) must now pick up the pieces, make sure all arrangements are made and the people in Mark's life who'd fallen by the wayside know of his death. Upon going through Mark's things, Jeff finds out that Mark has been corresponding with Andrea (played by Alessandra Calza) an Italian Graphic Designer he met online for over a year and was planning on meeting for the first time before his death. It is now Jeff's sad duty to email this poor guy in Italy and inform him of Mark's untimely demise.

Wow. First of all let me say if you're looking for crazy sex scenes etc, this is not the movie for you....But if you want a movie that will make you feel things--grab some Kleenex because you're going to need it.

I've had the displeasure of watching some HORRID gay movies in my time like Shut Up and Kiss Me - I don't know what I was thinking with that one. I thought it was good okay? I mean with a name like that how could they screw it up so badly? Anyways, let's move on to my happy place. Recently I've come across a few that keeps me coming back to the genre. Movies like I Do and big Eden are just priceless gems. Add this one to that list! This movie had me bringing out the kleenex and the junk food. It was heartbreaking in all the best ways!  The movie isn't bogged down with wild music or crazy sounds. It seemed all natural with piano where needed.

Sometimes the dialogue was a little bit much but those times were quickly forgotten when they get into the good stuff, like memories of Mark and the way Andrea and Jeff seems around each other leaves an air of truth. This movie had a strange, yet beautiful stillness about it. It was as if the places within the film, where the character Mark was happiness took on a whole new meaning for Jeff and Andrea and they were places the two men could go, shut out the world, the noise and the chaos of the world and simply, be. 

The scene where Jeff stood outside watering Mark's plants even though Mark's gone and then the realization that this spot, this moment was once Mark's -- was completely life altering. The first time Andrea entered Mark's bedroom physically though he'd seen it so many times in pictures was poignant for it dawns on him, if Mark was alive, they'd be there together. These are the places, Andrea and Jeff can see and feel Mark still.

The ending will absolutely make you think - you feel every raw emotion there and you wish--just so the characters would smile it would end differently. But you know, perhaps it is the writer in me, but I knew there was no other possible way for this movie to end, than how it did.

This movie is a wonderful testament to the human's ability to love and be loved in returned. It shows our insecurities about the things we believe our loved ones would never understand if we told them, though these things are not as horrible as not having us in their lives. It shows how two people, who've never met before, can come together because of one reason to work for one goal--closure and solace with each other.

The secondary characters were few but still left an impact. Though you only hear Andrea's mother's voice she is one character I'll never forget because she's like any Italian and Jamaican mother *love* and Jeff's sister - Sometimes the secondary characters can eat away at the story and make it all about them. Not this time.

Ciao is heartbreaking, uplifting, sad, happy all these emotions wrapped into one big bundle of a great movie. And if you look real hard, you may be able to learn a few lessons in it.

Hugs,
Kato

Seducing Mr Perfect aka Seducing Mr. Robin

 Seducing Mr Perfect AKA Seducing Mr Robin is a South Korean movie written and directed by Sang Woo Kim. It stars Uhm Jung-Hwa and Daniel Henney (Hawaii Five-O, X-Men Origins: Wolverine).  It's about a woman Min Joon (Played by Uhm Jung-Hwa) who believes completely in true love but the she has horrid luck with men. Enters the sexy and wealthy Robin Heiden (played by Daniel Henney) and things in Min Joon's life begins spiralling hilariously out of control!

First let me say, boredom led me to this movie because if I hadn't gotten home and spent two hours scrolling through three hundred channels with nothing to watch, writer's block kicking my butt and a tension headache the size of New Amsterdam threatening to drive me insane, I wouldn't have gone looking for a movie to watch. Finding Seducing Mr Perfect made me so happy--it was like finding out G Dragon (Big Bang) made a song called Niliria with Missy Misdemeanor Elliot. That means I was flailing happy. It was super-fun-happy-time! lol. Anyways, I adore everything Asian media (when it comes to movies, dramas, music - that kind of media). At first I saw the name and thought - here we go--another blase boring romance movie! 

Boy was I wrong. 

I was laughing from the very beginning of this movie and couldn't stop. From the first scene this movie is filled with cute heartbreak and tons of laughter. Daniel Henney (with his sexy-fine self) did not disappoint and thought I found myself thinking Le Gasp! What a jerk! It wasn't in a "I want to punch him in the throat" kind of jerk but a "Giggling while shaking my head" kind of jerk. I have no better way to explain this movie.

Though I find it was a little slow at one point, the rest of the movie flowed seamlessly and left me feeling fulfilled and happy. The music throughout this movie as well was another shock--for it was great music as though they actually planned it! *Gasp! What a concept!*

Still, this movie is something to be seen if you liked I'm a Cyborg But it's Okay. And I can't end without speaking of the secondary characters. They gave his movie a sense of added originality and air I've never seen before in a South Korean comedy. They were real and true and so deliciously quirky, I wonder how one person could write all of them. 

I enjoyed this movie. Now, I must go drink some water. My laugh headache hurts! lol

hugs,
Kato

Showcase Strikes again! - King and Maxwell

After finding out that a show that I got into DO NO HARM was cancelled by NBC after the second episode but they kept running it just to show all the episodes they made, I got so mad. NBC is right up there with FOX when it comes to cancelling television show before fighting for them to live. Remember Firefly the best Sci-fi television show since the ORIGINAL Star Trek.  My hatred for the new Trek movies is for another post all together because that post will be ripe with cuss words that I will probably have to make up.  But anyways, I digress.

Canada's SHOWCASE TV seem to be hitting the nail on the head when it comes to character driven programming that no other station seems to carry. From World Without End to Copper  and in some cases Lost Girl (my disappointment in that television show has everything to do with their latest poster of BO in the subway stations  here in Toronto bothers the hell out of me because of what that little thing says to young girls) and of course Defiance - they seem to find some of the best shows to broadcast. They kind of let me down with most of the last couple of seasons of Beauty and the Beast but that's just me. Still, they did it again with their newest addition of King and Maxwell.

Let me start out by saying this - While sometimes characters need to be serious and some television shows are just built to rip your heart on it, stomp on it, run it over with a track, stop then back up over it, there are other shows that lighten the air while tossing in a bit of drama.

I love a television show who have characters who aren't the same old, same old. I love quirky and chemistry. I love character dynamics like Derick Morgan with Penelope Garcia, Gibbs and Abbey, Rizzoli and Isles - I love characters who play off each other and seem to genuinely like each other - not only as characters but it seem they like each other off screen.

Rebecca Romijn (the former Mrs. Stamos) plays Michelle Maxwell along side Jon Tenney (Longmire, The Closer) who plays Sean King. Now I waited two whole episodes before I wrote this. Normally I would wait a bit longer but so far I am not disappointed in this show. According to IMBD here is the blurb for the show: Sean King and Michelle Maxwell aren't your typical pair of private investigators. Both are former Secret Service agents, and their unique skill set (not to mention their razor-sharp chemistry) often gives them a leg up on both suspects and conventional law enforcement. 

It is not as droll as it sounds. From the very first episode, the lines have been drawn with what characters I liked and which ones I wanted to put in front of a speeding train. Harsh, yes I know but these two FBI agents in the show makes a person feel that way.  

I think one other thing I should mention is Ryan Hurst (Opie of Sons of Anarchy) as Edgar Roy - Now this character is spectacular. He is an adult with a high sort of Autism. He is GREAT with numbers, remembers things no one else could possibly remember but I adore this character so deeply! His performance is gold and puts a smile on my face every time.

Now, while I do not think this show will make it past the 10 episodes that's been schedule, I really hope it will. Why I say I don't think it will last? Well television stations deal in ratings. King and Maxwell is one of those shows that young people probably will not like. But Showcase TV has a knack for saving things, giving shoes and actors a chance for their fans to pay attention and get into it. If Beauty and the Beast lasted as long as it has, I'm holding out hope this spectacular gem of King and Maxwell will make it. 

Bottom line? King and Maxwell is a gem of a television show with comedy, chemistry, action, espionage and the hankering for a partner love story. It reminds me of Sue Thomas F.B Eye (which I miss severely. I am still disappointed with how it ended). It is one of those television shows not many people know about--but if you know who David Baldacci is, you should check out the books. I know what's going to be on my Christmas book list! (yeah yeah I'm a book nerd too).

Hugs,
Kato